Failure of Estradiol Inactivation Products to Inhibit Pituitary Gonadotropic Content and Secretion

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Abstract
[alpha]-Estradiol pellets, varying from 1.1 mg. to 10.8 mg. in wt., were implanted in the spleens of mature virgin female rats the same day they were castrated. The estradiol, carried directly to the liver via the portal vein, was inactivated, as proven by the atrophic vaginal smear, atrophic uteri and thymic hypertrophy. Thus, no active estradiol, only degradation products, reached the general systemic circulation. The pellets in the spleen did not prevent a post-castrational rise of pituitary gonadotrophic content and it was concluded that estrogen inactivation products are not the main controlling factor of pituitary gonadotrophic content and secretion.